About

Incorporated in 1996, Lakewood is the second-largest city in Pierce County and the 18th-largest in the state of Washington. It is the host community to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the largest joint base on the West Coast and one of the largest in the U.S. Lakewood is strategically located along the Interstate 5 corridor. It borders JBLM, Camp Murray (home to the Washington National Guard) and Tacoma, and is situated a short drive from Seattle and Olympia. Lakewood also is a hub for activity at the Ports of Tacoma, Olympia and Seattle.

Snapshot of the Community

60,000 residents

3,500 businesses

25,000 jobs

24,000 households

Median age: 36.6

Average household income: $65,912

Lakewood Industrial Park is fourth-largest private, for-profit employer in Pierce County and third-largest industrial business park in Washington

Boasts one of the only true “International Districts” in Pierce County, influenced by Korean, Vietnamese, Latino and other ethnic cultures

Served by:

Clover Park School District, an award-winning K-12 public system that has built several new schools recently

Pierce College Fort Steilacoom, a community college

Clover Park Technical Colleges, one of the most popular technical colleges in the South Sound

Lakewood Boasts Great Recreation

Four golf courses, including Oakbrook, Fort Steilacoom, Tacoma Country & Golf and American Lake Veterans

Fort Steilacoom Park

Historic Lakewold Gardens

Thornewood Castle

Grand Prix Raceway

AMC Loews Lakewood Towne Center

Lakewood Playhouse

More fun facts about Lakewood

Known as the “playground” for region’s elite who enjoyed its lakes, golf courses and other amenities, including the Weyerhauser family (yes, of forestry fame) whose home was on Gravelly Lake

Mayor William “Bill” Harrison, the City of Lakewood’s first mayor after incorporation in 1996, has a building named in his honor – a.k.a. “Harrison Hall” – at neighboring Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Harrison served as the commanding general of 7th Infantry Division, I Corps and what was then known as Fort Lewis. He was elected as Lakewood’s first Mayor in October 1995. Harrison Hall will serve as 7th Infantry Division’s headquarters building.

Thornewood Castle, located on the shores of American Lake, was an actual European castle that Chester Throne purchased in 1907. He had the 400-year-old Elizabethan manor dismantled and shipped, brick by brick, from England to Northwest. Thornewood has also been the real-life set for movies such as Stephen King’s “Rose Red ,” Ridley Pearson’s “The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer ” and Oscar-winner “There Will Be Blood .”

Lakewold Gardens – a 10-acre estate canvassed with rare and native plants, trees and more than 900 rhododendrons on the shores of Gravelly Lake – was recently listed on the National Historic Register .

Lakewood is the hometown to the likes of:

Kate Starbird, 1997 James Naismith National Player of the Year for Stanford, former WNBA star